Partner or Pariah? – Academic attitudes to history work by mill hands at Cooleemee, North Carolina

Research by the author into the use of museums to restore community identity after industrial decline suggested working-class people’s use of history was profound and far-reaching. It also showed that the working classes might be at risk of exclusion from this opportunity to regain identity, because...

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Main Author: Tamasin Wedgwood
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Leicester 2009-11-01
Series:Museum & Society
Online Access:https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/mas/article/view/139
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spelling doaj-15efa6da622a4166abd56175971385cb2020-11-25T00:34:25ZengUniversity of LeicesterMuseum & Society1479-83602009-11-0173178193128Partner or Pariah? – Academic attitudes to history work by mill hands at Cooleemee, North CarolinaTamasin WedgwoodResearch by the author into the use of museums to restore community identity after industrial decline suggested working-class people’s use of history was profound and far-reaching. It also showed that the working classes might be at risk of exclusion from this opportunity to regain identity, because the middle classes tended to assume that they lacked interest in history or would not ‘appreciate’ museum facilities. More worrying still, one case study museum – The Textile Heritage Center, Cooleemee, North Carolina – felt rebuffed by the academic community, other museums, and funding bodies, because of their association with, and championship of, a working-class, predominantly white community. If some groups are being given that impression, then it is time to revise academic attitudes towards the poor, and time to truly listen to the ‘inarticulate’.https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/mas/article/view/139
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Tamasin Wedgwood
spellingShingle Tamasin Wedgwood
Partner or Pariah? – Academic attitudes to history work by mill hands at Cooleemee, North Carolina
Museum & Society
author_facet Tamasin Wedgwood
author_sort Tamasin Wedgwood
title Partner or Pariah? – Academic attitudes to history work by mill hands at Cooleemee, North Carolina
title_short Partner or Pariah? – Academic attitudes to history work by mill hands at Cooleemee, North Carolina
title_full Partner or Pariah? – Academic attitudes to history work by mill hands at Cooleemee, North Carolina
title_fullStr Partner or Pariah? – Academic attitudes to history work by mill hands at Cooleemee, North Carolina
title_full_unstemmed Partner or Pariah? – Academic attitudes to history work by mill hands at Cooleemee, North Carolina
title_sort partner or pariah? – academic attitudes to history work by mill hands at cooleemee, north carolina
publisher University of Leicester
series Museum & Society
issn 1479-8360
publishDate 2009-11-01
description Research by the author into the use of museums to restore community identity after industrial decline suggested working-class people’s use of history was profound and far-reaching. It also showed that the working classes might be at risk of exclusion from this opportunity to regain identity, because the middle classes tended to assume that they lacked interest in history or would not ‘appreciate’ museum facilities. More worrying still, one case study museum – The Textile Heritage Center, Cooleemee, North Carolina – felt rebuffed by the academic community, other museums, and funding bodies, because of their association with, and championship of, a working-class, predominantly white community. If some groups are being given that impression, then it is time to revise academic attitudes towards the poor, and time to truly listen to the ‘inarticulate’.
url https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/mas/article/view/139
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